My Other Shadow
by MyMind'sDream
Summary: Elena expects this year to be the same as every other. Little did she know that fate would intervene and she would meet Damon her first day of classes. What happens when your fate is different from what your shadow self wants for you. Will they interfere and attempt to change your future, even if it's dangerous for everyone involved?
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is my first fanfiction. I write other things but this is my first time trying out a fanfiction so sorry if it's a bit rough. All comments and ideas are welcome:) Also, the whole story won't be like this, I just had to show them meeting. Hope you enjoy! **

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(Prologue)

Elena was starting her third year of college when she met Damon. She walked into her lecture that first day not knowing what to expect, to her surprise, there was a young, twenty something year old sitting in the chair behind the podium. One arm was thrown across his pile of papers and his other arm was used to prop up his head, his fist pulling half his face up, eyes closed. It looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Even though he looked like he had a long night, she couldn't deny that this man was extremely attractive.

Taking a sharp intake of breath Damon's eyes flew open, the ice blue a immense contrast against his dark lashes and hair. Yawning, he ran his hands over his face and noticed that there were already a couple of people in the room. Although they were put in an auditorium that seated over 150 students, there were only 70 allowed into this particular course, so far there were less than ten people in the room. He noticed the girl walking in, watching him as she passed.

Walking straight to the front row of the auditorium, Elena sat in the fifth seat on the right side, directly in front of the podium. She preferred to sit in this same area in nearly all of her classes, though she didn't mind being closer to this gorgeous teacher. Placing her bag in the seat beside her, she unzipped it and removed a notebook and a pen, then reached down between her seat and the next to pull her desk up. Ready for class, Elena started writing the course title at the top of her page "Anthropology: Folklore and Supernatural".

In all her years at university she had yet to have a semi good-looking teacher. But this man wasn't even close to averagely handsome. He was beautiful. Glancing up, she accidentally locked eyes with this blue eyed, black haired god. She had to force herself look away. Blushing, she turned her eyes towards her notebook and chewed on her bottom lip. Elena began doodling on the corner of her paper, in order to keep herself distracted.

He knew that if he watched her long enough that she would look up. Everyone knows that if you stare at someone long enough they start to feel it and can't resist the urge to look. If she had started at him on the way into the class why shouldn't he return the favor and stare right back. Though, he didn't really count on her turning her eyes away so swiftly. Honestly, most girls couldn't take their eyes off of him. In this case though, he couldn't take his eyes off her, and he wanted her to see him.

Face still turned down, she glanced up through her hair and eyelashes, and he was still watching her, a look of curiosity on his face. The moment their eyes locked the right corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk which only enhanced her attraction towards him. Why did he have to be so perfect?

The class slowly filled up around her, not that she took much notice. All she could concentrate on was keeping her eyes down to restrain herself from taking glances at the front of the room. When the clock finally reached 9:10AM, the class was pretty full, and the young man made his way out from behind the stand, looked across the class, and began talking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Damon Salvatore, and I hope all of you are here for the Folklore and Supernatural Anthropology course, if not I suggest you get out…like now."

Three people started scurrying toward the door, trying to shove their notebooks back in their bags, rushing to the classrooms they were supposed to be in.

"There are always a few people in the wrong class, idiots. Anyways, I assume the rest of you are in the right place and not missing a different class."

After a sufficient pause, Damon turned his back to the class as he walked toward the podium and lifted the stack of papers he had been lying on. He moved towards Elena and handed half the stack to her, giving her that smirk again, before turning and walking to the other side of the room, giving a guy over there the other half of the papers.

"Take a packet and pass them on!" Damon raised his voice a bit to call across the class.

"While I know everyone of you would love to hear that I will be teaching every class this semester, you will have to console yourselves, I won't be. I am just the teaching assistant, I will be here every class, doing a few lectures, grading all of your papers and taking any questions you have, but I am not your professor. If you bothered to do any research on the course you were taking before arriving today, you will have noticed that the professor is Alaric Saltzman. He isn't here today because the first day never matters. Yes, he told me to say this. Other days when I teach, he will probably be missing just because he doesn't like the topic we are covering or you guys are annoying him."

Elena studied Damon closely. She noticed the little smiles that tugged at the corners of his mouth when he said anything about Mr. Saltzman. It made her smile a little herself; she realized the two men must be close. She noticed almost every little thing about him, from his bulky, family crest ring, that he spun on his finger, to the way he walked confidently, shoulders back and chest slightly out. There was a constant sarcastic quality to his voice, and playfulness in his words. When he had come up to her earlier, she had even detected the intoxicating scent of colonel mixed with bourbon. Sighing, Elena realized that she had been dazing off for a good, probably 10 minutes, as Damon noted the important things to know about this course. Shocked, Elena was actually relieved that someone else would be teaching most of the time; she had never been so distracted in all of her years of school.

"Policy, blah, blah, blah. No cheating, if you don't know that why are you in college… Okay, I'm done; apparently we believe that you guys are second graders. If you don't know these kind of things, I don't know how you have survived life this long."

Giggles and a few booming laughs erupted from the class behind her. Damon smiled, shook his head, and started waving his hand in a get out motion.

"Guys, seriously, get out. I will have to see your ugly faces three times a week, for the next sixteen weeks. I'm sick of looking at you already. I'll see you Wednesday, if you really have anything to ask, come see me on the way out."

The sound of zipping bags and shuffling feet filled the room. People started quickly making their way to the door, like they were running out before he could change his mind and call them back. Elena slowly started to fill her bag back up, preparing to leave.

"Hey, don't forget to read, Alaric won't hesitate to call you out, fair warning!" Damon called after the students making their way out.

Running his hand thru his jet-black hair, Damon let out an exhausted sigh, leaning back against the lectern, waiting to see if anyone was going to come talk to him. Although, he had no idea what someone could possibly have to ask on the first day of class.

Damon watched Elena closely. She really was beautiful. He had a hard time not focusing on her while he was trying to read the syllabus, he could feel those gorgeous dark eyes watching his every little move. Looking at her now, he couldn't tell what about her he liked best. Was it her long dark hair or the eyes that were so dark you could hardly see her pupils? Then again, maybe it was that beautiful, soft looking, tanned skin or even the way her clothes clung to every one of her curves, showing off her perfect figure.

Coughing, Damon pulled himself out of his trance. Bringing himself up to a standing position, he looked around the room, noticing the last people were leaving the room. Elena was swinging her back onto her shoulder, any minute now she would be gone.

He couldn't let her leave without saying anything; he didn't know why really, he just couldn't. From his place by the podium he called over to her. A large smile adorned his face as he slowly started ambling in her direction.

"So, since we are the only ones left here, I have to ask, how are my lecturing skills? Do I have a future as a professor?"

Swinging around so that her back wasn't facing him, Elena realized he was right. They were the only ones left in the room. He was talking to her. After a moment of silence, Elena finally responded.

"I dazed off for a bit there, so they must not be too great. Oh and using the words 'blah, blah, blah' in a lecture, very professional. So you totally have a future as a professor." A close-lipped smile spread across her face.

He finally reached her seat as she started to meander in the direction of the door. Damon beside her, they headed to the door, which was closer than either of them wished.

"Well it's good to know I'm already boring students to death, I have to get that skill perfected. Also, nice to know I am come in, seriously hung over, and still do my job."

Well, now she knew why he smelled of bourbon. He was rather enjoyable to talk to, she must admit. Laughing, Elena was surprised that he was actually keeping her interest. With school as her main priority, she hadn't really given any guy a second thought in years.

"Nice to know: makes first impressions drunk."

"Just be glad it was me who came today. Alaric made me drink with him last night, and today he could hardly stand up. And now here we are, you graced with my presence, me cursing Alaric, and him asleep at home. Bastard."

Giggling, Elena stepped over the threshold, out the door. Not wanting to take up any more of this grad student's time, she knew it was time to go.

"Well it was nice meeting you, time for me to run to my next class. I guess this won't be the last time I see you."

She took his smile as his goodbye. Turning her back on Damon, Elena strode down the hall, heading toward the exit and her next class.

"You certainly will."

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**A/N: Warning, I am in college, sometimes I'm busy, sometimes not. I will try to get chapters up every few days though! The longest it should ever take is a week, and if it takes me that long, I'm just being lazy and have writers block! Hope you stick around and see what is to come:) **


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello again! To those of you returning, thank you! To those you you just entering, I hope you enjoy. Anyways, this is more just intro to the characters kind of stuff. When we meet Caroline's boyfriend and introduce more supernatural things in later chapters it will get better! As said before, I'm still new to this. Also, all reviews are very welcome! It really helps me gauge what you like and gives me ideas for the future.**

**Disclaimer: You know this but I have to do it at least once, I don't own Vampire Diaries. **

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(Ch.1)

As Elena's last class, Shakespeare, finished for the day at 12:20PM, she hurriedly threw her bag over her shoulders and pulled her keys out of her pocket. She gripped them tight to keep them from jangling and headed out of the Education building and toward her car. She wasn't sure why, but she really felt the need to tell her roommate about Damon Salvatore. And it had to be rather quick; she did have to be at work by 1pm.

The campus wasn't too large, so it only took her about three minutes to reach her car. The lot was full in the mid day and the class change was making it a little hard for her to actually get out of her spot, let alone the lot. She hated the first days of school; everyone had to attend all classes to find out which ones you actually had to show up for. Next week would be so much better, people would stop being such great students and start staying home and sleeping in.

Five minutes later she was on the highway and heading home. Turning down a side street to avoid traffic, Elena wound her way through the streets she knew like the back of her hand, until she reached her destination. She had finally made it to her apartment, it was 12:40PM, and work was only half a minute away, thank god.

She ran up the metal flight of stairs that led to apartment 211, shoved her waiting key into the slot, opened the door and closed it behind her, throwing her keys onto the coffee table as usual.

Realizing that her roommate wasn't in the living room or the kitchen, Elena turned down the hallway towards the bedrooms. She knocked on her friend's door in swift, hard pounds and called out to her, as she left to go to her room and deposit her school things on her bed.

"Caroline!"

Elena began discarding her clothes in exchange for her work outfit, nice looking jeans and a shirt with the store logo on it. She heard an immediate response to her call.

"What's going on?! Is something wrong?"

Caroline flung her door open and ran into Elena's room. She ran in, only to find Elena standing there, buttoning her jeans and about to slide on her dark green worktop over her lacy black bra. Seeing that her friend seemed to be perfectly fine, Caroline let out an exasperated sigh and raised her eyebrows.

"What did you come in here in such a hurry, freaking out for? You look fine to me."

Caroline crossed her arms and leaned back against the doorframe. She was confused since this wasn't very characteristic of Elena. They had known each other for a while and it took a lot to get Elena so excited.

"Sorry Car, I didn't mean to scare you, or tear you away from…whatever you were doing."

She waved her hand in the general direction of Caroline's room.

"It's fine, I'm just waiting for my next class to start. I was watching Netflix, eating lunch, you just frightened me is all."

"Again sorry, I'm just in a hurry to get to work and I really needed to tell you something."

"Well go on then."

Caroline smiled a little, still thinking that her best friend was losing it.

Elena looked back at the alarm clock beside her bed, picked up her phone, tucking it in her back pocket and grabbed her wallet out of her bag. Speeding past Caroline into the kitchen she started talking, only fifteen minutes left, and she still had to scarf down some lunch. Elena pulled some left over pizza out of the fridge as Caroline turned the corner and came up to the kitchen bar.

"Okay, so my first class today was that Supernatural Anthropology class, the one I was lucky to get into, you know the one I mean. Well when I got in there I noticed that the guy teaching was really young, and really hot, I mean like…. hottest guy you've ever seen and you can't believe it's real life kind of hot. Well anyways, I noticed him watching me, but to be fair he did catch me staring at him first. I feel like he kept trying to get me to make eye contact with him, but then again he could be wondering who the creep is staring at him and trying to embarrass me. But that's not the end. He's just the grad student, but he said he's always around and I don't know how I'm going to survive with him in there. I was so distracted I couldn't even concentrate. I mean I sound like an idiot, I feel like an idiot. He came up afterwards and talked to me. I don't know if he was doing it to be nice or try to hurry me out of the room or what, but it was enjoyable…"

Elena took a deep breath and bit off a huge bite of pizza to stop her ranting. She could feel herself blushing. This was so dumb; she should have kept it to herself. Never in her life had Elena Gilbert acted like this. Now that she had gotten this off her chest, she felt relieved…but also like she should just never talk again. She figured her friend was probably thinking how pathetic this was.

Caroline could see the red creeping up Elena's cheeks. She had to admit that this was a very weird situation. Elena was such a dedicated student, and usually pretty calm. Most of the time Caroline could swear that Elena didn't even notice the boys fawning over her. Caroline rolled her lips together as her brow furrowed, shaking her head for a moment she pulled her golden hair into a high ponytail. Time to be serious.

"You aren't an idiot, Elena. I'm just shocked. I mean you totally shouldn't be so embarrassed about this. I just didn't even think you noticed or thought about guys really, I mean, hell, I don't know."

"Caroline Forbes, at a loss for words. Oh, I have shocked you. You have an opinion about everything! Ugh, just ignore me. I feel so weird acting like this. I just, today, in my other class I couldn't get his eyes out of my head. And then I even started thinking about if he was really flirting or if I made it up in my head. Just never mind, I don't know. But you should see him."

Elena started jamming the rest of the pizza into her mouth. Once she was done, she ran to the sink, washed her hands and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Well, it sounds like you're smitten, I'll think on that… Find me a picture later so I can see!"

"I will, but forget everything else. I just need some time to think straight. I think I am just tripping up because I got so distracted by him. I swear his voice could put you under some kind of spell."

Looking at the clock once more Elena picked her stuff back up, and headed for the door after swiping her keys back up from the table.

"I'll see you later Car, have a good class! I've really got to run."

Sliding into the car, Elena took her time driving to work. She realized she would be there a minute or two early so she didn't have to risk the speeding ticket. Elena arrived at work a minute later, with two minutes to spare. She pulled into the employee lot behind the bookstore, parked her car, and headed toward the back door. She typed her code into the panel and entered the building.

Once inside Elena did her usual routine: clocked in, placed her stuff at her desk and told the person working that they could clock out. She loved working around books all day. She could help people decide what to read, sneak in some reading time as she placed books on the shelves and find new authors. It was easy to keep herself distracted here, erase Damon from her mind, and get lost in the stories and lives of the characters in the novels.

Like most all bookstores, this one had a coffee shop attached to it. Elena headed to the counter to get a frappuccino after about two hours of organizing books on shelves and doing checks the inventory. Walking up to the counter, she placed her drink order and took a seat on one of the cushiony reading armchairs while she was waiting. She had finished all of her tasks, and the store was rather slow at the moment, so she had a little bit of time to kill. Her boss told her to go relax for a while before the crowd picked up and she had to go interact with customers.

Pulling her legs up on the chair with her, Elena balanced a copy of Throne of Glass on her knees. She was almost halfway through the book and could hardly stand to put it down. The barista came around the corner and dropped her drink off on the little side table after finishing just a page. Elena didn't stop reading as she lifted her drink carefully to her lips, making sure not to spill on her book.

Damon saw Elena from across the room. He noticed her from class earlier this morning, but now he realized he never asked for her name. He didn't know if he should interrupt her earlier or not. He was sitting at a tiny two-person table over in the back corner of the coffee shop, on his computer, writing out lecture notes.

Slowly closing the computer, Damon leaned back into his seat to watch her as she curled up in the couch or read her book with such intensity. He couldn't concentrate on anything other than her, but he couldn't bother her either when she was so absorbed in what she was doing. He wasn't sure why, but just watching her made him feel content. He could see her reactions to each line read, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth when something made her happy, and the furrow in her brow when she was upset. Ten minutes had passed before he noticed that he had been openly staring at her for so long. Blinking rapidly he looked around the room. He really hoped that no one had seen that.

Upon looking around he was relieved to find that the only people in the room were he, the dark haired beauty from class, and the barista. When the barista saw him look her way, she put back on the giant smile, her cheeks flushed thinking Damon was looking for her. After looking running her hands down her apron to straighten it out she made her way from behind the counter and was heading toward his table. Great, now she thought he wanted to talk to her. Then again, maybe she was coming over to call him out for creeping on the customers. Maybe there is some kind of barista code with customers.

Looking down, pretending to be busy, Damon opened his lecture notes back up on the computer. Maybe if she thought he was doing something, she would just go away. He glanced up, no such luck. Well, at least by the looks of it she hadn't come to call him out. Damon recognized that look, not to be conceited or anything, but she was coming over to flirt.

"Sir, I noticed you looking around and I saw you catch my eye, I was wondering if there was something you needed."

She flashed that giant grin and tilted her head a bit to the side. Damon didn't want to be rude, but then again he did want her to go away. He rolled his lips and pulled the corners of his mouth up, giving her a, grin-ish, kind of thing. Hoping he portrayed someone very busy and not all that interested, but still an okay guy.

"No, I was just looking around, trying to get my thoughts in order."

He looked back toward the screen and placed his fingers over the keys, like he was about to get back to typing. Hearing her clearing her throat, he turned his eyes back to her. This little bitch just wouldn't give up.

"Well, if you need some inspiration, it's not very busy, I can keep you company."

Elena hadn't noticed the barista leave her station; she was too engrossed in her book to even care. She may have heard the shuffling of feet, but when she was reading she tended to block out and forget all noise. There was only one sound that could break her out of the kind of trance she was in, one voice. And there it was.

Marking her page, she slowly closed her book. Keeping her eyes forward she heard that sarcastic, sexy voice again. Elena had never know that you could be attracted to a sound, she had never understood what people meant by that, that is, until now.

Turning her head slowly she glanced back at the table in the corner, there he was. Had he been there the whole time or had he arrived sometime after? She had no way of knowing.

"No, I really do need to get this done, I'm quite behind."

"Well if you're already behind, then a little more time won't hurt. Maybe afterwards you'll be able to think better."

Damon's eyes glanced at the door, praying someone would walk in, make her have to go attend someone else. He did a quick scan of the room, and noticed that those onyx eyes he had been dying to see were finally on him. Finally, he had an idea. If he told her he needed something, she had to go, didn't she?

Elena stifled a giggle as she watched what was going on. The girl just couldn't take a hint could she? Damon's eyes had locked with hers, and he looked like he was pleading for help. Obliged to lend him a hand, she called out to the barista, right as he was about to say something.

"Hey Emily. Could you get me a snack from behind the counter, I didn't really get to eat lunch? You know, that muffin I like."

Slowly turning around, Elena anticipated the death glare she received. Oh, it was even worse.

"You need it… right this moment…"

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind, I'm simply famished."

"Sure then…the customer is king, right?"

Stomping off back towards the food case, Emily was going to get Elena's muffin prepared. Just then, a customer came in and started to make an order. Good, that should keep her busy for a little bit.

"Emily, deal with them first, just bring me my muffin when you find a free moment."

Elena had to roll her lips to keep from beaming at the terrible look that Emily gave her. Well, good thing she had never liked her anyways.

Damon closed his MacBook again, looking over at the empty couch beside the girl. He owed her for the muffin right, he had to at least go give her a few dollars, and while he was there, he may as well sit down. Picking up the computer, Damon strode over and plopped down in the armchair next to hers.

"Hey, told you I'd see you again."

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**A/N: Thanks for sticking around, hope you enjoyed. More to come soon! **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hey all! To those of you still following and leaving reviews, thanks. As I've said before the story won't be like this forever, I promise. Life has been crazy between college, work and friends birthdays so that's why this took a little bit! Anyways, I should get a few chapters up pretty quick next week and introduce more of the story line and more of the characters. Hope you enjoy the cutesy stuff while it lasts. Happy reading.

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(Ch. 2)

Elena had opened her book back up after rescuing Damon; she certainly hadn't expected him to appear on the chair beside her.

Relaxing into the chair, he kicked up his feet, lightly placing his boots on the corner of small square coffee table in front of the two chairs.

"So I have to say, I didn't quite expect to see you this soon. What are you, stalking me?"

He smiled bemusedly at the dark hair girl, trying to get a rise out of her. Elena wasn't going to rise to the occasion though. She scoffed out a laugh and turned her body to the left to better face him. Pointing at the store logo over her right breast, she proved her innocence.

"Clearly, you are the one stalking me. I work here. I'm actually on a break right now until business picks up. So technically you should be praising me for rescuing your ass."

She nodded toward to counter where Emily was tending to a new customer. Damon chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I had it under control. It would have only taken me a few more minutes."

Now it was Elena's turn to roll her eyes. Realizing she was going to get no more reading done this way, she remarked her book and put it down on the smaller, round table between the two armchairs.

"By the way, I can't very well be stalking someone I don't even know the name of. I can't thank you properly without your name either."

Considering, momentarily, she narrowed her eyes for a second before deciding there could be no harm in giving her name. He was, after all, her ta and would find out one-way or another.

"Elena, Elena Gilbert."

"Well Elena Gilbert, thank you for saving me…a few minutes of annoyance."

Elena smiled shyly as Damon unleashed the full force of his crocked smile directly on her. She stammered out a reply. Momentarily tripped up by his attention. So much for playing it cool, she was about to sound like a blabbering idiot.

"Uh...you're welcome…it's really no problem."

Just then, Emily ran back over with Elena's muffin. Pure animosity seemed to be radiating off her as she approached and found Damon sitting there.

Oh yeah, he was sooo busy, but he could come over and talk to Elena. What could Elena give him? That was an easy answer, nothing. She doesn't even pay attention to guys. Emily hadn't worked here long, but through observation and word of mouth she knew the only things Elena worried about were school, work, books and her very few friends. If he wanted someone who would put out, which most every gorgeous guy did, then he was looking in the wrong place. Huffing out a frustrated breath, the barista stopped in front of the two.

"That will be $3.50."

Emily crossed her arms in front of her body and leaned her weight back on her right leg. Damon shifted in his chair, lifting the left side of his butt off of the leather, he reached into his back pocket and removed a five-dollar bill from his wallet before Elena could even grab her money. Handing the money to Emily, shock was clearly conveyed on her face.

"Don't worry, I go this one Elena. Keep the change, Em. Also, I won't be in need of anything else today. So don't worry about asking."

Dumbfounded, but thankful for his generosity, Elena had to shake her head to think straight.

"Same here Emily. But thanks for the muffin."

Turning swiftly, the barista stormed off back behind the counter in a huff. She was murmuring under her breath, but making sure it was still loud enough to be heard.

"Oh yeah, very busy, can't talk. He can talk to her and buy her muffins, but can't even look up at me long enough to talk."

"I wouldn't order anything here…like ever again, if I were you. Well at least not from her. You may get spit in your drink."

Elena laughed lightly as she watched the barista continue to throw a fit behind the counter. Damon's deeper chuckles mingled with her softer ones in the air around them.

"By the way, you didn't have to buy this for me…"

She lifted the muffin and tilted it in his direction before letting it come back to a rest on her leg.

"It was the least I could do to thank you, Ms. Gilbert. I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten that muffin if I wasn't being sexually harassed."

He lifted his eyebrows and laughed at the idea of being rescued from sexual harassment.

"Well she is new…I'll make sure that goes down on an incident report. I will say she isn't as pleasant as most of our other baristas."

"Oh really, I didn't get that impression at all… I thought she was just peachy."

"How about you tell me that next time and I won't rescue you from being attacked in public."

"Next time…I didn't know there was going to be one."

Damon smiled slyly and raised his eyebrow. She said next time, which meant she was enjoying herself, right. He wasn't complaining; he was relieved. Sure he would see her in class, but that was class. In class he couldn't joke around and flirt with her openly. He couldn't show favor and he sure couldn't interrupt lecture. If he wanted more time, like this moment, which he did, he would have to see her again, outside of class. Suddenly, he was very glad that he had found this coffee shop a few weeks back and took such a liking to it.

"Well…I mean I'm assuming if you ever come in here again I'll see you. I mean most of the people in here are regulars and have a regular time, and this is my work time. And I have to see you in class. Don't get all conceited on me."

How could this beautiful man turn a simple statement into something for her to be embarrassed about? She could feel his eyes boring into her, tearing her apart. It's as if he was testing what she was made of. Seeing how she would react.

"Get conceited, on you…. never. Don't think so. I was born naturally amazing, it's not something I can change."

Damon winked and relaxed back into the corner of his chair, his body facing right, toward Elena. After a moment they both began laughing again. Inhaling deeply Elena regained control of herself.

Damon's eyes shifted, staring above Elena's head as a man in a collared green shirt with the bookstore logo and a nametag approached. He noticed that the tag had the word 'manager' engraved directly below his name 'Mike'.

Elena noticed the slight adjustment of Damon's eyes and didn't realize what he was looking at until she felt a hand press to her shoulder. Leaning her head back, Elena's sight landed on her boss.

"Hey, Mike. What you need?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just noticed a customer or two walking around, figured you'd want to go talk to them. Also, there is a box of used books that need to be assessed and put up. You don't need to go this moment if you don't want, as long as you get to it before you head out."

"Oh, it's no problem. I'm not doing anything anyways."

Elena turned her face down and threw Damon's cocky half smile back at him. Turning back to face Mike, she assured him she would get to it momentarily and started standing as her boss walked away.

Damon waited until the boss was out of earshot before he spoke up again.

"Your boss seems pretty laid back."

"Yeah, he's pretty great."

"Oh, also, thanks for calling me nothing."

Damon smiled to show he was joking. He understood that she had to go work. She probably shouldn't even have been talking to him for as long as she had.

"You're welcome. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you Wednesday morning."

Elena turned and spoke over her shoulder as she started wandering back toward the bookstore portion of the building. She wrapped her muffin in the napkins it sat on and carried her drink and book off with her.

Following suit, Damon stood up with his computer bag and drink. He certainly wasn't going to stay here with the barista from hell all by himself. Damon called after her, feeling the need to say her name once more.

"Thanks again, Elena, I look forward to seeing you again."

With a last glance at her retreating form, seeing her wave a frappe filled hand, Damon turned his back and headed toward the store exit.

All Elena could do for the next hour was think of those icy eyes and that stupid pink mouth as she evaluated the books. Still hearing the way her name wrapped around his tongue, eased out over his lips before floating through the air, landing on her ears. She had never loved her name more.

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**A/N:** As always, thanks for reading and please leave your reviews. Also, there may come a time when I give options to help me decide where the story goes, until then, feel free to share ideas. I will add everything to my list of things to consider in the future.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey! My professors hate me, they randomly gave me a bunch to do early this week, sorry! But here is the new chapter and I am about to start typing the next one, right now, so give it a day or two! So you finally get to meet Caroline's boyfriend, now I can begin to get past introducing the characters. Well, hope you like!

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(Ch. 3)

Tuesday had passed much slower than Monday. Rather than two classes, Elena had three that day, and the lack of work made the day drag on forever. Things got a little better that night when her and Caroline decided to binge watch Supernatural on Netflix.

Waiting for their food to arrive, Elena and Caroline were sprawled out across the couch in their pajamas. Elena had told Care about Damon's appearance at the coffee shop, but she did a much better job of not making a big deal out of it.

Finally, after watching Dean die, again, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

Caroline's voice rang through out the apartment.

The knob twisted and the door cracked open with a bit of effort. A foot kicked the door the rest of the way open as a form emerged, drowning in bags of Chinese food and random groceries. Walking directly to the small table in front of the couch, the man began to bend down to let the bags rest on the wooden surface.

Caroline untangled herself from the couch and decided she should probably get up to help her boyfriend, in the very least to greet him and thank him for the food run.

"Oh my gosh! You're our savior! We were literally down to eating left over pizza and too lazy to go grocery shopping!"

The golden haired girl bounded around the table and into the arms of her night in shining armor, just as he straightened from unloading all the bags.

"I figured there was a reason that I got a call to pick up food on my way over. Also, Elena's dying of starvation calls and noises in the background were a bit of a giveaway."

A smile appeared on Stefan's lips as Caroline wrapped herself around him. Pulling his face back, he ran his hand over the top of her head and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

Elena lit up at the sight of both her friends so happy. She had met Stefan back in high school, after he moved to Mystic Falls, at the start of their junior year, to live with his uncle Zach. A lot had changed in Elena's life at the time and Stefan had been a great friend. It was nice, meeting someone who can be objective, and you don't have to act how everyone else expects you to. He was her rock in that time of need.

When things had calmed down, Elena introduced Stefan to the group of friends she usually hung out with. He fit right in. Caroline and Stefan became fast friends, but dating didn't seem to be on the list of options for them. That was, until two years ago. As Caroline explained "it just kind of happened" or "it felt right".

Elena had to admit, they were one of the happiest couples she had ever seen. It was most likely the fact that they had such a strong friendship and relationship going into this that made them so great together. Also, it was obviously benefiting Elena for them to be together, she thought as she opened the bag from their favorite Asian bistro and pulled out her meal.

"We owe you, like big time Stefan."

Elena spoke around a mouth full of food and dug around the bag in front of her for a napkin.

Laughing, Caroline and Stefan separated and went to join Elena on the couch.

"It's not a big deal. I was by the grocery while I was waiting for the food so I just went and picked some stuff up. I live here half the time anyways. Who knows how much of your food I've eaten in the past few years."

"Yeah, but you always do stuff like this!"

"Elena! Don't make him start reconsidering! He may not bring us food anymore, which means we would actually have to go to the store!"

Caroline nudged her friend with her shoulder. The girls burst into laughter at the other's looks of horror at the thought of pushing through the crowded grocery store in search of sustenance.

"Ah, she is right. But seriously, next time take my credit card or something. I think we owe you a few grocery trips now."

The friends joked around and ate, with Supernatural still on in the background, for the next half hour before Elena could convince herself to move and put away the groceries.

Grabbing the plastic bags off of makeshift dinner table, Elena headed to the kitchen. She noticed what looked like Stefan moving to help.

"Don't you dare try to help me put these away!"

Elena pointed a finger at him and tried to give him a serious squinty eye look, which just ended in her smiling and the other two mocking her.

"Don't worry, I won't help. Just going to throw the Asian food bag and trash out."

He raised his hands in surrender. Elena sighed, knowing that was the best she would get from him. Before heading out with the trash he grabbed up the plastic bags the girl had just emptied off of the kitchen counter, stuffed them into the garbage and headed off toward the dumpster, before he could be scolded again.

Caroline got off the couch and made her way over to her friend to help her put the groceries away. She grabbed the items designated for the pantry, as Elena worked putting away the food belonging in the fridge and freezer.

They chit chatted as they worked together, moving around each other seamlessly as always. They had known each other for so long, and lived together for three years, that it was like they knew what the other would do and how the other would move before they did it. Once all the food was put up, the girls sat on the stools by the counter, debating how long it would take Stefan to return. The dumpster was on the other side of the apartment complex.

It was getting rather late and Elena wanted to get some reading in before she passed out and had to go to class early in the morning. Oh the joys of school. Though, she wasn't as unwilling of school to come as she would usually be, she did get to see him again. Get to see the pale eyes that haunted her daydreams.

Just then the door opened and the tall, handsome man, reappeared.

"Hey guys, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. I want to do some reading and I have to wake up early for that Folklore class or whatever."

"Elena Gilbert, don't even pretend to act disappointed, you know you're excited to see mr. hotty again."

"Care, shut up! That is not it."

The girls giggled as Elena lightly punched Caroline's arm, Stefan was thoroughly confused.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Oh, Elena got some really hot grad student, ta, for this course and she has a crush on him. AND he showed up at the bookstore after their class yesterday!"

Sighing Elena walked over to where Stefan was to give him a hug and thank him before heading to bed.

"Really…Elena never gets crushes on people…who is he?"

Shock colored his features as he looked down at his lovely friend and felt the tiniest bit hurt. Years ago, when they had first met, he had some feelings for the girl, but she never seemed to care. He did have Caroline though, and for that he was grateful, so he really couldn't complain.

"His name is Damon S something… I told her that too! But she does have a crush on him!"

As Elena wrapped an arm around Stefan to say goodnight she felt him tense a little, but couldn't figure out why he would have reacted that way to her. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and just pretended not to notice.

"Well this is my cue to leave… Thanks again for the groceries and dinner. Care, I'll see you, sometime, tomorrow."

Elena made some 'I'm going to get you back for that' eyes at Caroline and took off toward her bedroom.

Getting lost in the world of Throne of Glass, Elena started to feel drowsy after only an hour. Deciding to put her book up and get some beauty rest, she set an alarm on the clock beside her bed. The alarm that next morning seemed to come far too soon.

Groggily getting up three minutes later, she headed toward the bathroom to take a quick shower. She was out of the shower, shaved and back in her room, working on her hair, in a matter of ten minutes, record time.

Once her thick, dark, hair was flowing in a river of soft curls down her back, she went to scour her closet for something to wear. Pulling out a pair of jeans and a top for work, she neatly folded them and laid them on the bed to pack. She didn't want to have to worry about rushing home to change. Turning back to the closet, she ended up pulling out one of her many sundresses. Once dressed, she swiped a few layers of mascara on her lashes and some light brown shadow over her eyelids.

Checking the mirror once more after packing her bag, she deemed herself ready for the day. Taking a quick turn into the kitchen on her way out, Elena made a sandwich and added a small bag of chips to her sack. There, now there was no reason to have to run home to change, or miss lunch, for that matter.

On her way to her car Elena noticed that Stefan's little red, classic, sports car was still parked here, he must have stayed the night. Not much of a shocker, he tended to live at their house most of the time. She didn't mind.

As Elena walked up to the door of the Anthropology Building she realized just how early she was. The other classes were just vacating their rooms, meaning she was twenty minutes early. Once she was through the door she took a hard right and sped down the hall into her classroom, the last door on the left.

Sighing as she entered the room. Elena was glad she had dodged most of the traffic and her room was one of the only ones that didn't host the earliest class time. Running her fingers through her hair to push it back from her face, Elena gazed up. She wasn't the only one in the room it appeared. Damon Salvatore in all his handsome, brooding, glory was placing, what appeared to be a flash drive, on the professor's desk.

"Well, I'm glad I wasn't the first one here."

Those stunning eyes locked on hers and a dangerous smile played on his face.

"I had to finish that presentation for Alaric, figured I'd get more done here. You… on the other hand have no excuse for being this early… besides being a show off. Hoping to gain favor with the professor? Maybe best to work though his assistant."

Damon raised his eyebrows in two rapid pulses and pursed his lips, waiting for her response. Elena rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and made her way towards her seat at the front of the room. Tossing her stuff in the seat to her left, Elena lowered herself and got comfortable in her chair.

"Actually, I think I'd prefer to just rely on my brains. I wouldn't want to have to spend all of my time attempting to impress you."

"Oh, I'm already impressed."

It slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. But it was true. Each time he saw her, he saw more about her that impressed him. He knew she was drop dead gorgeous, that was obvious, but he loved the way she didn't seem to notice how much she stood out from those around her. He was also amazed at the way she could lose herself in a book, or her own thoughts. And the way she would talk back and not bend to his will as most girls did, she could stand her own ground. But he didn't want her to know just how intrigued he was.

"Just putting it out there, but for the grades, you would have to work a lot harder than this."

He laughed to let her know that he was joking and hoped to change the conversation a little. Or at least pray that she didn't notice his slip and call him out on his crappy cover.

"Okay, whatever you say Damon… maybe one of the other girls in here will fall for that crap, but not me. Better luck bothering one of them."

She smirked at him, hoping he wouldn't call her bluff. She didn't want him to go bothering other girls…but she also wanted to act like herself, and not fall into his trap. Just from looking at him you could tell he was used to girls doing whatever he wanted, but that wasn't who she was.

"Eh, I doubt they are as interesting. Besides, I HAVE to sit on the front row, so I get to bother you for the rest of the semester it looks like."

He walked over and plopped down in the seat directly to her right. Turning his face toward hers, he gave her that half smile that pulled up the entire side of his face and crinkled his eyes. Damn, this is going to be a long class, Elena thought, let alone a semester.

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**A/N: **As always thanks for everyone who is keeping up with this and reviewing! You guys are amazing. Special shout out to xxFallenVampirexx, you are awesome, and to your last review for me, I will keep writing as long as any single person is still interested! I'm dedicated to this story, as I've said before I have plans for it, not just all this cute sweet stuff:)


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Told you it wouldn't take me too long to post this! Sorry it isn't very long. I just had to get the lecture with Alaric in there! Well, as always thanks and enjoy!

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(Ch. 4)

Damon and Elena bantered back and forth for the next ten minutes. Breaking contact with those striking eyes was hard, but Elena ultimately managed. She saw the clock and realized it was only ten minutes until class began. Looking around she observed there were at least 30 other students in the room now.

"When did all these people get here?"

Reluctantly, Damon dragged his eyes off of Elena's beautiful face and scanned the room. Dang, he couldn't remember anyone getting here either. At least the others were making small talk and it wasn't dead silent in the room while the two of them flirted away. That would have been awkward.

"I can't really say the specific time…but I'm assuming, and don't quote me now, it's just a guess… sometime, in the last ten minutes."

"I'm being serious Damon! Did you notice them come in?"

She playfully pushed his arm. Immediately, she pulled her hand back. What was she thinking? This was her professor's assistant. Sure he was just a grad student and it wasn't breaking any rules that she could think of, but it would look bad. She didn't want the others thinking she was trying to gain favor by flirting.

"Actually, no."

His look turned pensive, as he furrowed his brow in thought. An appearance at the door distracted him briefly. Placing a hand on Elena's leg, as the man whom had stolen Damon's attention headed to the front of the room, Damon turned his eyes back to meet Elena's. He slid to the edge of his seat.

"Hey, that's Alaric. I have to run and tell him a few things about the presentation really quick. I told him to come in early and he listened, for once. I'll be back in a moment. Don't miss me too much."

He smirked at her and removed his hand from her leg. He hadn't even really thought about it before he touched her; it just felt natural, like he was supposed to do that. Standing he headed to the front of the room.

Elena was shocked that the professor was actually pretty handsome. She had never seen a good-looking male professor; now she had him AND a hot TA. Well this was going to be fun... He was also a lot younger than she expected, hardly into his 30s by the look of him.

What surprised Elena the most was the fact that she could still feel precisely where Damon's hand had been placed on her skin. It felt like someone had left a burning imprint, in the place where his, slightly calloused, hand had been so cruelly ripped away.

Elena watched the two men talk. She tried not to make it too obvious by pulling out her notebook and playing on her phone, but she couldn't completely look away. If she thought she saw affection on Damon's face during that first class talking about Alaric, it was nothing compared to with him here. It was obvious they were pretty close friends.

Two minutes before lecture started, Damon returned, and plopped down back in the seat beside her.

"Fear not, I'm back. Sorry you had to last so long without me. That man is annoying, persistent chatter."

Elena shook her head slightly at Damon's false annoyance.

"News flash: the world doesn't revolve around you. And you seemed to be talking just as much as him."

Making a sarcastic shocked noise, Damon widened his eyes, placed a hand on his chest and let his mouth fall open, for effect.

"Are you certain? I was sure it did! ….Hmmm…."

"Yes, I'm quite positive… What now?"

"Oh, just…you know…thinking about the fact that you couldn't take your eyes off me."

"Ha. What makes you think you are that special?"

"Well you acted like you noticed how much I was talking, so obviously you were watching me. Don't worry, I'm very flattered Miss Gilbert."

Elena pushed into his side in an attempt to keep up the joking manner of this conversation and not be embarrassed.

"I do sit in the front of the room you know, nothing else better to look at. Besides, your annoying voice carries."

"Annoying, hah, I've been told me voice is quite…alluring."

Alaric watched his long time friend, flirting, with young girl in the front of the room. It was time for class to start, and he was starting to feel weird watching this little thing go down. Clearing his throat loudly, and awkwardly, he walked up to the podium, PowerPoint clicker in hand.

"I'm Alaric Saltzman and I'll be teaching this class, most of the time, as I'm sure Damon told you all Monday. Well unless anyone has anything to add…lets get started."

As the lecture got underway Damon leaned back in his seat, crossed his ankles and placed his hands behind his head. His presentation had a surprise or two for Alaric, and he couldn't wait to see his reaction.

Elena tried to keep her eyes faced forward. She couldn't help but take a glance or two at Damon. The way he was leaning back, strained his muscles, pulling taut against his black V-neck shirt and jeans. Eyes forward Elena, she chanted to herself.

"Okay, today we will be talking about German Folklore."

Turning back to the screen to view the first slide, he saw that the picture was one of Damon. He was staring into a mirror, a look of horror on his face, with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Great. 'Presentation by Damon Salvatore' printed in giant text across the bottom. The class, immediately realizing this was their professor, burst into laughter.

"Really, Damon."

"I figured you'd appreciate my creativeness, Ric."

Letting out a frustrated breath, he went back to the presentation. Elena tried to concentrate, but honestly she didn't hear nearly the first half of the lecture. Most of the material was fairly introductory and didn't hold her attention much. Towards the end of the lecture though, she became absorbed in the story telling quality of her professor's voice.

"_It's unbelievable when you start to think about it. There are over 7 billion people on this plant and we are all so different. Are you ever surrounded by a group of people and stop to think about how every little detail makes us each so unique?" _

_Then again, statistics that say there are 7 people in the world, right now, who look almost exact like you. Sometimes you see someone and they look like another person you know. Maybe someone comes up to you because they are sure they've met you before. Have you ever thought that one of those people who look like you is close by? _

_What happens if you actually meet someone who looks identical to you, your doppelgänger? In common lore, originating in Germany, it is said that everyone has a doppelgänger, but should you ever see yours, it is an omen, of your death. _

_Therefore, why would you ever look for yourself in a crowd, if you knew it might mean you will die soon? Then again, if you saw yourself out of the corner of your eye, could you stop from doing a double take?"_

After only 40 minutes, they finished the first part of this lecture. No one had any questions to ask, so they got released early, and told to read for next class.

Damon made his way back over to Ric, as Elena packed her materials back up. He talked to his friend, but his attention was on Elena. The way her legs looked in that dress and her hair flowed down her body, just waiting to have fingers ran through it. Catching himself, again, he slapped Ric on the arm and said he'd talk to him later, and went back to this amazing girl.

The two of them talked as Damon walked with Elena towards her next class, which was conveniently on the way to his car.

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**A/N: **Please, let me know what you think! I'll update again soon, trying to hurry before finals start!


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **College is a lot of work and finals suck, for those of you who don't know. Anyways... I just got to sit down today and write this...while avoiding studying. But either way it's finally up! Bear with me guys, I'm excited for you to see the chapter coming next. You guys are amazing by the way:)

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(Ch. 5)

The next two weeks passed almost exactly the same as the first. Elena went to her classes five days a week; work three days during the school week, and once on the weekends. During the weekends Elena tended to have to 9am shift on Saturday.

She happened to see Damon nearly everyday at work. Of course his usual time to work on Alaric's presentations and papers was the exact same time he came that first day of classes. And then again, it should also, just so happen to be, he too likes to finish up grading their papers Saturday's around 11am.

Elena wasn't sure he meant to run into her all of the time... but it certainly seemed like it. Almost every workday she got to sit down and have a drink on break with him. For the past week, he had already had the drink ordered and paid for the moment he saw her heading toward the coffee shop. He must not mind her company too bad.

The two had gotten more comfortable with each other. They sat closer, leaned in toward the other, without meaning to. Those little touches that set Elena's skin on fire happened more and more often, the effect always the same. She began to do the same back, hoping to let him know that she was fine with it, liked it even. Little did she know, in her presence, Damon was always waiting for her next touch.

For all that Elena had seen Damon, she had figured she would have seen more of Stefan. He was, after all, an unofficial roommate. She knew he was there a lot of the time, like every single night. Every morning she went downstairs she saw that little red car, but during the day him and Caroline were hiding out at his place, which was kind of unusual.

The few times that Elena saw Stefan were pretty much the only times she saw her roommate. Caroline would take nearly every opportunity during that time to ask questions and taunt Elena about Damon. Stefan seemed to kind of daze off or find something else to do to keep him busy during these times. Stefan was acting weird and Elena couldn't figure out why. Had the two boys known each other of something? Maybe she would get around to asking Damon. Perhaps he'd be more willing to share.

It was Monday morning, again, and the fourth week of school. This was the week of reviews for most classes, since week five was prime first exam time. While she knew she probably should have been studying yesterday, she spent the day laying in bed and watching Netflix. You can't blame a girl for being lazy when she has work and school. Plus, she still made great grades!

Sitting in lecture, Elena was more than slightly distracted by the feel of Damon's arm touching hers. He had his arm on the armrest, right next to hers, all the way down to their palms hardly touching. Damon made sure to flex his fingers every so often to make sure Elena still felt him there, and push his hand a little more slightly against hers. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw her bite the corner of her lip each time he moved.

Alaric was having a difficult time concentrating during his lecture when all he noticed was Damon, being highly inappropriate. Alaric couldn't find a way to really say that this kind of thing was against the rules, but it felt wrong. His friend truly did seem to like her; he was even being a little less of an ass. With most girls Damon just fucked them and threw them out, but he wasn't following his typical pattern with this girl. He was just worried if Damon perused her further, and she gave in, that he would have to deal with drama in his class.

After spending the first half of the class discussing the exam set for next Monday, and finishing his lecture on Irish folklore, he decided they had time to more onto Scandinavian folklore.

"_As you guys may have noticed a lot of our folklore crosses paths. Each culture has its own folklore but sometimes their supernatural beings seem similar to each other, they just go by different names and have little differences. _

_In Scandinavian folklore we have one such creature, they are a form of a doppelgänger if you ask me. Can anyone tell me the name of this? I'll give you a clue… I assigned a chapter in the book for you to read…"_

Looking around the class Alaric could see people avoiding him gaze pointedly. He knew that half of the class knew the answer and didn't want to talk; the other half just didn't read the book. His eyes finally rested on Elena. She had made A's on all of the papers over the readings so he knew she had most likely read the book. And while he loved to pick on people, he wanted the girl to start paying attention to the lecture and stop letting Damon distract her, so he called her name.

"Ms. Gilbert, would you care to tell the class your opinion?"

Damon shoved Elena's arm a bit to get her attention. She turned her face towards him only to see him smiling and pointing towards the professor. Blinking a few times, Elena realized she had just been asked a question. Alaric, seeing that Elena was obviously confused, repeated the question.

"I'm assuming you are talking about the Vardoger, also known as the phantom double or spirit walker."

Her voice resounded though the room with confidence. She actually picked this subject as the topic of her reading paper that she turned in online last Friday night.

"Good job. I'm glad to see that somebody actually did their readings…"

Glad that he had gotten her attention back, Alaric fell back into lecture mode.

"_The Vardoger, from Scandinavian folklore, is also called a spirit predecessor. This thing is known to cause déjà vu instances, except in reverse. It is said that the spirit has the same appearance, voice and scent as their other. As you can see this would leave witnesses pretty confused and actually believing they had seen the person before they actually ever physically arrive. _

_It is said that the person will always arrive where their spirit walker or phantom double has been. The job of the Vardoger is to go ahead of you and change things so that you experience them in a certain way. _

_So how could you be certain that you are ever actually choosing how you live? What if your spirit is really your fate and they make the choices and manipulate the circumstances before you ever even get there? _

_The difference between this creature and the doppelgänger is that if you were to see your phantom double it wouldn't be an omen of your death. The Vardoger is always supposed to leave footprints that lead you through your life, while the doppelgänger is far more sinister." _

Ric looked back at the clock and saw that it was only seven minutes before class was supposed to be dismissed. He knew that he couldn't possibly get all the way through his next topic in the Scandinavian section so he decided to call it a day. Make the students happy.

"Okay guys, I don't have enough time to finish the lecture today, so Wednesday we will finish up, and Friday review for the exam. Make sure to read and turn in your last paper for this exam section. You are free to leave."

Elena practically jumped out of her seat to stand and remove herself from Damon's teasing touch. She was pretty positive he knew the effects he had on her; no matter how hard she tried to hide it. She could tell it amused him to no end.

As she finishing packing her things, Damon slowly got to his feet. He looked toward the front of the room and remembered that he really needed to talk to Ric about something and now was the best time.

Elena had her back to Damon and she took a step toward to door, assuming he would walk with her out of the class as usual. Reaching forward Damon made a rash decision and grabbed Elena's wrist.

She felt his hand on her skin, keeping her from moving even further away from him. Confused, she turned back to face him.

"What is it?"

"I can't walk you out today and I won't be at the coffee shop this afternoon."

Elena tried not to let the disappointment show too clearly on her face. I mean, could she honestly expect this man to stay interested in her for so long, to see him as frequently as she had been.

"Oh…alright…I mean thanks for letting me know…would have been awkward to start talking on my way out and realize I was talking to myself…"

She giggled a bit trying to brush it off.

Damon knew it was now or never. It would drive him nuts if he didn't get to see her beautiful face again until Wednesday, and there was only one way that he could see her.

"I suppose so, but I was actually going to suggest an alternative. I think we should go out to eat tonight. I mean honestly, what do either of us have to do tonight that is better than eating."

He said it so nonchalantly, like it wasn't even a question or something new. It was as if he already knew the answer before he even got the words out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Elena's words were stuck in hers.

"How about this, if you are really nice…I may even pay?"

A smile broke across his face and he winked at her. All Elena could do was nod in agreement. She was still a bit confused. Was this really happening? Was she imagining it? Was he playing some cruel joke on her? But then she thought back to the past week and him ordering her drinks and always being around, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Sure, why not? I mean it's either that or romen noodles and Netflix."

Damon released Elena from his grip but managed to swipe her phone from her hand. He added himself to her contacts, and proceeded to text himself from her phone so that he had her info. Handing the phone back to Elena he began walking towards Alaric.

"So I'll text you later. You say when and I'll come get you. Let's make the place a surprise. Alright?"

Without waiting for an answer he turned his back on her and began speaking to his friend. Elena slowly made her way out of the room. Had she just agreed to a date with Damon? Had he actually just asked HER on a date?

Knowing that she wasn't missing anything except a lecture that came directly from the slides, which the professor sent to them, Elena skipped her next class. She raced home in the hopes of finding her roommate still there, before she disappeared again.

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**A/N: **I'm so excited that I'm about to write about their date! Also, yes there will be a bit of action... I can't wait for you to see it. As always leave reviews/suggestions and thanks for reading!

Side note: To any of you taking finals right now...I feel your pain...GOOD LUCK!


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hey! Sorry this has taken FOREVER! I've been working on this bits at a time during down time at work and free time, things just got crazy during and after finals! Thanks to those of you sticking it out! Also, sorry if there are mistakes. I only edited once since I wanted to get this up already! I'll try to post another chapter soon. Hope you enjoy the date:)

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(Ch. 6)

Arriving home, Elena flew thru the door to find Caroline in the process of getting her things together to leave. Caroline looked up at her friend, down at her time on her phone, and back up.

"I can tell you have something to say, and you know I really want to hear it, so make it quick. Out with it."

Elena starting telling her friend about seeing Damon more than she admitted to previously and how he had asked her out. Her eyes followed Care around the room as she ran around picking things up and she had followed her down the stairs as she ran to load up her car.

Upon hearing Elena finish her tale, Care spun around and confronted her.

"Ah! You have been holding out on me Elena Gilbert! But first, please tell me you said yes?! I can't believe Hotty McHotpants asked you out, **and** has been buying you drinks, **and** you haven't said a word till now!"

"Care, he JUST asked me out! Well more like told me to come eat…but anyways. And you have hardly been around, so I couldn't tell you the rest!"

Caroline felt a little guilty for not being around for her friend, but mainly she was trying to wrap her mind around this. It was just a date, but for Elena to actually be going and care, it was something bigger.

"Okay, maybe you're right. But Stefan's roommate just kind of dropped him and is moving out and I've been helping him fix up the room. Actually, he is lying in my bed; he is skipping his first class because the professor is an idiot, so go make him explain himself. And bug him with girl talk while you're at it. I will be back later when you get off work, I'll even help you get ready!"

Caroline smiled and winked at her friend as she swung into the driver's seat of her car, slammed the door, and raced off toward school.

Elena sighed, feeling better that she had told someone and made her way back to the apartment. It was about time that she bugged Stefan. It felt like forever since they had talked.

Knocking twice, lightly, Elena eased the door open. It wouldn't take much to wake Stefan and she didn't want to scare him awake. Though, she had to admit, the idea was semi appealing…

Being the light sleeper that he was, Stefan groaned and rolled over to the sound of Elena entering the room. He squinted at the doorway as light came in from behind his friend.

"I just got back to sleep."

Stefan moved so he was just taking up only half the bed and pulled his pillow over his head.

"Sorry, but I never see you anymore. Caroline told me this was the best time to catch you."

"It's fine. Just close the door. Turn on the lamp in the corner if you really need light."

Elena crossed the room and switched the dim lamp on, before running back to the bed. She lifted the covers, to reveal a shirtless Stefan in drawstring pants, and climbed under the covers and lay down next to him.

"I haven't seen you around lately. Care says your roommate moved out or something."

Turning on his side, Stefan bent his arm to prop his head up with his fist. When he answered his voice was still thick with sleep, but he had finally resigned to waking up.

"Yeah, he's moving out. He kind of messed up the room, so I've been redoing it. Since I came into my full trust fund when I turned 21 last November, I don't need the roommate to afford my place. I think after I'm done fixing the room up and repainting I'm just going to turn it into a library slash study room slash spare room."

"Now that you don't have a roommate you won't have to hide away here. You and Caroline are probably hardly going to be here. You can't steal my roommate!"

Elena sighed, rolled onto her stomach, and buried her face in the pillow. Stefan chuckled at his friend's fake dramatic display and nudged her in the ribs.

"Oh you know you love having this place to yourself. And I promise to still stock up your groceries and spend at least a third of our time here."

"Deal."

Elena turned her head to face him and a slow smile spread across her face.

"You are so weird."

Stefan shook his head and flopped down onto his back. A smile was plastered on his face like there usually was when he was around Elena.

"So…you sure this roommate thing is the only reason you've been avoiding the place. I felt like something was off with us the other day…"

Elena didn't want to bring it up, but it had been bothering her and she had to make sure there was nothing messing up her friendship with Stefan.

"I'm sure. It's just, the other day, the guy Caroline mentioned; his name was the same as my brothers. You know that after my dad died, my brother and I had a big falling out. That's why I took off to live with my uncle. Well my brother's name is Damon, and it just brought on a lot of bad memories when you said the name."

"I completely forgot! You said his name like, once, years ago and it just totally slipped my mind! Ugh, I'm such an idiot."

"I didn't expect you to remember that, Elena. Seriously, it's no big deal. I mean my brother isn't the only Damon. I know what. It was just his name and the anniversary of dad's death coming up. It's dumb."

A collective, laugh of a sigh escaped both their lips as they realized each was worried about the other being upset over nothing.

"… So… is this a bad time to mention that I'm going on a date with this guy…"

"I think I'll live. We just have to make up a name for him or something."

"Well Caroline calls him different names all the time. Earlier is was Hotty McHotpants…you can take that one if you want."

Stefan scoffed and pushed his friend, before rising from the bed.

"I think I'll come up with something on my own, if you guys actually see each other on a more regular basis. But for now, I think I'm going to get ready for the day and make something to eat. Then you can actually be well fed before work."

"Oh, good! I knew I liked you coming around for a reason!"

Elena hopped up from the bed and left the room. The rest of the day passed much like every other day, except slower. By the time work came around it felt like she had already lived through two days.

Maybe work would have passed quicker, if Damon could have shown up. Then again Emily was back on this shift for some reason, which made Elena want to avoid the coffee shop all together. So rather than suffer the glare, Elena grabbed her drink and book, and found a couch in the store. Pulling out her phone, she realized she should probably text Damon.

It took a minute to think of what to say. Did she just blurt out a time straight away? Or should she ask if they were still on for tonight? **Or** should she just start with a simple greeting?!

Hey felt like a safe enough text…it wasn't enough of something to feel dumb if he had changed his mind or something.

Hey.

Hey.

Well that was helpful. What should she say next? While she sat internally debating the how to respond she received a second text from Damon.

Don't tell me you're backing out rather than sending me a time.

No. I was just making sure you could text, or didn't want to back out.

Not a chance. So what time am I going to do you the honor of escorting you out?

Is 7:00 okay? By the way, shrink your head back down to its normal size. J

That is perfect. And this is its normal size. I think you know that by now. I'm sure it will be very inflated later on though when you see me ;) I look forward to seeing your jaw drop.

In your dreams.

Always.

Why did I say yes to this again? And am I supposed to dress fancy?

Because you can't resist me. And between ramen noodles and me, I think the choice would always be me. You know that though. And dress nice; don't worry about having money on you though.

Insert rolling eyes. I'll see you at 7:00 then.

You will.

The rest of the day passed in a blur until she got home to start getting ready for her date. She had half an hour till he would be here. Before she was nervous, excited. Now, now she was terrified.

When Elena came in, Caroline was already home waiting for her. Stefan was in his late class so they didn't have to worry about him interrupting the process. Elena entered her room to find that her friend had set up her desk with make up and had outfit choices strewn across the bed.

Of course Caroline had assumed that Elena was going to dress to impress this gorgeous man so there were three outfits to decide from. Elena ended up choosing the sweetheart electric blue dress, with two-inch thick straps, that accentuated her curves and went down to her mid thigh. She paired it with her black-heeled ankle books and a matching clutch.

After Caroline deemed her worthy, she sat her down in the chair, and gave her a gorgeous smoky eye. The last fifteen minutes were spent arranging her beautiful dark tresses into a perfect waterfall of loose curls down her back. One spritz of perfume and it was 6:59PM.

Staring at herself in the mirror, Elena became a little worried. She thought she looked good, and Caroline had reassured her 100 times that she looked smoking hot, but would Damon like how she looked.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Caroline ran to answer it. Elena's fear threatened to strangle her, but it was being batted down at the excitement that began to swell within her.

Elena could hear her friend having polite chitchat at the door with Damon and his sarcastic, charming voice carry through the apartment. Taking a deep breath she turned out of her room and headed toward her date.

Damon's eyes found her the moment she came into view. It's like she was a magnet and his eyes were drawn to her pull. He couldn't have escaped it if he wanted. Taken aback for a moment, he stumbled over whatever response he was giving Elena's roommate.

His lazy, confident smirk quickly replaced the dazed look. He couldn't possibly let her know the hold she had over him, the effect she had on him.

"Elena."

Just her name coming out of his mouth felt like it was packed with meaning. It was all he had to say. The fear that gripped her completely disappeared. All that remained were nerves and excitement.

"Damon."

A small smile appeared on her lips as she took in all of him. He was wearing finely fitted black jeans and a dark grey, tight, button up, long sleeve, that clung to every well defined muscle in his upper body. The top few button were undone and his sleeves were rolled up exposing his forearms.

"You look stunning."

"Thanks. You'll do."

His eyes danced with amusement. He gave a slight shake of his head. Turning to face Caroline, he had to practically tear his eyes off of his date.

"Well I do believe we should be going. Caroline, it was a pleasure to meet you. And don't worry, I will have her home at an appropriate time, as promised."

"Good. You better! And it was nice to meet you too, Damon."

As Elena walked forward to pass her friend grabbed her arm. Damon turned toward the stairs. The two spoke under hushed breaths so he couldn't hear.

"Oh my god. You were not kidding when you said he was hot!"

"I told you."

Elena closed the door behind her and caught up to Damon at the stairs. He insisted she go first and followed closely behind her. Once at the bottom, he walked beside her, and let his hand lightly graze her back in order to steer her towards the car.

"Well this is our ride."

Damon walked to the passenger side of his light blue, convertible, 69' Camaro, and opened the door for Elena. Once she was securely inside, and he was sure he wouldn't crush any of her limbs, he slammed the door shut and hurried to the driver's side.

"Nice car! It's gorgeous."

"Yeah, I know."

He shot her a side smile and wink, as he placed his hand on the back of her seat and turned his body as he reversed out of the space. The drive to the restaurant took about 25 minutes and was filled with music and small talk. It was their easy, light usual banter.

Damon was around the car by the time Elena had undone her seat belt and picked up her clutch from the floor. The moment her hand landed on the handle the door swung out.

"Are you attempting to impress me, Mr. Salvatore? You do realize I am perfectly capable of opening my own door?"

A grin lit her face, in spite of the words that left her mouth. She didn't want to admit how much she admired the small gentlemanly stops he was pulling out.

"Ah, but I already have impressed you, so that is not the reason. And while I do realize that you have hands and are able to open the door, I enjoy doing this."

"Whatever you say."

"I also want others to see that they can in no way compete with my charm, so they won't try to jump in and steal you away. It would be fun to watch them try though."

Gathering her thoughts and trying to hide her smile Elena looked down and realized that she was still standing in the way of the open door.

"Oh, well I guess we should go in."

"Yes, we should."

Damon smirked and offered his arm as Elena stepped out of the way and he closed the door. Elena slid her hand into the crook of her dates elbow and walked with him down a stone path.

Glancing around Elena took note of what appeared to be a forested area, except for the stone building with the dark wooden entryway. The name "Howler" was written in large silver cursive letters across the front of the building.

The doors swung open before the couple even reached them and hostesses greeted them. After Damon said his name, they were immediately rushed to a table for two. They were seated in the back of the room, which consisted of many little alcoves with one table occupying each one. The alcove was completely make of, what appeared to be, glass.

The view was spectacular. The sun hung very low in the sky, just giving deep orange red background light that illuminated the surrounding forest. A small stony brook ran directly below their table and spurred off into many little streams running through the trees.

Damon pulled out Elena's chair and grazed her upper arm with his fingers. She slowly sat down, still mystified, and he took his seat at her side. Their chairs were close enough that their arms could brush if they let them.

"So, what do you think?" Damon finally spoke up after minutes of silence.

"Wow. Just wow."

All Elena could do was gaze out in wonder. It was so beautiful. She could hardly believe she was in such a gorgeous place, especially with such a handsome date. There had to be some kind of catch.

"I know. I'm glad you like it. You picked a good time too. By the time we get our food the sun should be gone and the moon should be high."

Damon was right. As the time passed, the sky began to darken, and the moon was soon high over their head, casting a completely knew kind of light across the trees. It had also changed the mood between the two. No longer were they preventing their arms from touching, they were now encouraging it.

The night had been amazing so far. The conversation flowed easy, the food was divine, they were having fun, and in this little alcove, it felt like they were in a world of their own.

After two glasses of wine, a basket of bread and a steak dinner the two were looking at the dessert menu.

"Anything chocolate!" Elena declared.

"Well that's about half the menu… How about that five layer chocolate cake thing, it looked good?"

"Go big or go home."

"That's my girl."

Elena bit her bottom lip, to keep the goofy smile off her face at his words, as Damon told the waiter what they wanted. Damon moved his chair fractionally closer to his date and turned his body to face her. Her arms were resting on the table and Damon let his fingers slide across her skin every so often.

"So Caroline really watches out for you doesn't she? She gave me a stern warning earlier." Damon practically laughed out the comment.

"Yeah, sorry about that. She's always been a little protective. She probably feels like no one is there to do it so she has to." Elena adds an eye roll for effect.

"What do you mean no one is there to?"

"Well…since my parents died I mean. My aunt took us in, and I still have my brother, but that's different. Just be lucky you didn't have to deal with Caroline's boyfriend, he is MUCH more protective."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know about your parents."

"It was before my junior year, a while ago now. My friend, Care's boyfriend, lost his dad around then too, and helped me get through it."

"Well, we do have more in common than I previously thought."

"What's that?"

"My mom's been gone for a long time, but my dad died some years back. On top of that, I lost a brother. Half the town thought he was responsible for dad's death, and when I tried to talk to him he took off. I haven't seen him since."

"Oh. That's terrible."

"Yeah. But I'm fine. I do think we should get off this depressing topic though!"

"I couldn't agree more."

Damon was freaking himself out. He hadn't told anyone about his family, anyone aside from Ric that is. But that was different. Maybe it was how comfortable he felt with Elena. Maybe he was losing his mind.

Their cake came and went and the easy, fun topics continued. They also spent much time admiring the nearly full moon with gray clouds crossing its path over head. After nearly two hours of food and conversation, the bill arrived, and they would soon have to leave this beautiful place.

Damon reached out and swiped the bill before it even hit table. He glanced at it for a moment, and slid a credit card in, handing it back to the waiter.

"Well, I must have been a good enough date."

"Oh, what has brought you to this conclusion?"

"Well I do recall you saying if I was nice, you would pay."

"Ah. Though, to be fair, I did later inform you earlier that you didn't have to worry about bringing money. So even if you were terrible, I would be stuck with the bill."

"If that were the case you shouldn't have brought me to such a nice place! Though I am very grateful you did."

"That would be true, if you were anyone else. But if we are being honest, I didn't have a doubt in my mind that you would be anything less than enchanting."

"Oh, is that so?" Elena challenged.

"Yes, and I was sorely mistaken!"

Elena's eyes widened with false shock at his words. A large grin broke across his face, showing his jest. Elena still punched him lightly in the arm.

"You are an ass. But I didn't believe your lie. I know I'm a fabulous date."

"I'm sure. But, you would be right."

Just then the waiter came back with the card. After signing, Damon stood and waited for Elena to join him. When she stood, she placed her hand on his forearm, allowing him to escort her out.

The drive seemed to pass with too swiftly. The entire time Elena was thinking about if the date had gone as great as she felt it had or if she had scared him off. She thought he seemed to be having a good time too, but maybe he's a good actor.

They arrived at her place, and once again he was there to open the door. He offered her his hand, to help her get out of the low car. The thing was, neither Elena nor Damon had it in them to let go, so they didn't.

"I wouldn't be opposed to doing this again."

Elena let the words fall from her lips as they stopping in front of her door. She looked up at Damon through her lashes, trying to gauge his response.

"I insist we do, Ms. Gilbert."

"I'm glad we agree then."

Turning slightly she unlocked her door and heard the TV playing in the living room. She realized she hadn't even bothered to look for Caroline's car in the parking lot. The night felt incomplete, but she had to go in.

"Good night, Damon."

She gave a small smile as she reluctantly released his hand. Her skin felt deprived the moment they were no longer attached. Damon slowly started backing toward the stairs, a teasing smile on his lips.

"Have dreams of me."

Elena rolled her eyes dramatically at him before entering her apartment. Immediately, Caroline was hounding her for information. She told her as much as she could in three minutes, before her friends phone rang.

Letting Caroline take that, Elena began to retreat to her room. She only had time to slide off her heels before her friend was outside of her door.

"Hey. I'm about to run to the next building to get a textbook from my friend. I left it at her place. I'll be back in a few minutes to hear the rest!" Care called.

Damon was in his car, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. He felt like he should run back and give the night the proper ending it deserved. He should have kissed her, he knew that now, but earlier, he hesitated. This wasn't like him, but Elena put him off his game.

He had to go back up there. He felt like Elena was a siren calling to him. She was summoning him and he couldn't refuse. The next thing he knew, he was taking the steps two at a time, flying back to her door. Just then the door flew open. He just knew Elena would be on the other side.

"Whoa, Damon!" Caroline jumped as he nearly plowed into her.

"Oh, hey Caroline. Sorry. Um, I was just looking for Elena. I'm sorry." He took an awkward step back.

"Well, she's inside. Just go in and call her name. I'm going downstairs, for about five minutes, if you care to know." Caroline smiled slyly, as she moved around him.

Elena thought she had heard Damon, so she came back into the hallway. Before he even saw her he was calling her name, slamming the door behind him.

"Elena!"

Damon laid eyes on her. He crossed over to her as fast as his legs would carry him.

"I thought I heard"

Her words were abruptly cut off. Before she even registered what was happening their lips crashed together. All at once, she knew this was the missing piece of the night.

Damon pinned Elena against the wall with his body. Her hands found their way into his raven hair, deepening their kiss further. His hands found purchase on sides, feeling down the length of her body, memorizing her curves.

They were like starved animals, depraved and wild. Their kiss seemed to have no beginning and no end; it just started as it was. A small gasp escaped Elena as Damon's hands made their way down over the small of her back and her ass, before lifting her off the ground. Her legs automatically wrapped around his body.

Their mouths and tongues seemed dance to the same tune. Each place their bodies touched seemed to pull them closer and deeper into their state of need. The melody was only broken by the clearing of Caroline's throat.

"Thanks for the show and all, but if you're going to fuck, could you please move it to the room."

Suddenly embarrassed, Elena unwrapped her legs and Damon allowed her to slide to land her feet on the floor.

"I'm sorry Caroline."

"Don't worry about it." Caroline giggled as she made her way to her room.

Once she was gone, Damon reached up and tucked Elena's falling hair behind her ear. Her favorite half smile spread across his lips.

"I'm sorry. I just had to know what it was like. I'll talk to you soon."

He placed a light kiss on top of her head, and then strode to the door to take off. Elena watching him leave, but she was glued to the floor. Still trying to catch her breath, she made her way, eventually, to her room.

* * *

**A/N: **Please let me know what you think and I'll try to get a new chapter up soon! I plan to let them get more physical, but if it will offend anyone I can leave it out... tell me what you think:)


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